


Truth or Stare

by fictionalportal



Category: RWBY
Genre: F/F, Sleepovers, Team Bonding, Truth or Dare, cuz otherwise she'd be an absolute Disaster, lowkey white rose, thank goodness blake's good at hiding her feelings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-10
Updated: 2018-11-10
Packaged: 2019-08-21 12:12:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,754
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16576238
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fictionalportal/pseuds/fictionalportal
Summary: Shortly after being named team leader, Ruby decides her squad needs to bond--with embarrassing sleepover games, of course!AKA, Blake barely makes it through a very stressful evening (Blake’s POV, third person).





	Truth or Stare

“Truth or dare!” Ruby’s shrill voice proclaimed.

She stood in the middle of the dorm room, her finger pointing up at the ceiling.

Weiss glanced up from her desk with a huff. “Ruby, do I have to explain what quiet hours means again?”

“It means team bonding,” Ruby countered. “I want us to know everything about each other. No secrets on team RWBY!”

Blake felt her ears strain against her bow, reflexively trying to flatten back against her hair. _No secrets._

Usually quiet hours didn't interfere with her plans to lose herself in fantastical realms and romances. Usually. Tonight was shaping up to be an exception. She peeked over her book at her teammates. Ruby, now standing on a chair, energetic and driven even in the face of enormous adversity. Naive, maybe, but unflinchingly optimistic. Weiss: dedicated beyond reproach, almost incomparably graceful, work ethic that put all perfectionists before her to shame. And Yang. Yang, who had barreled into Blake’s life like a sunshiney cannonball, a star that refused to stop burning for anyone, a supernova of a girl lying on her stomach and cursing at a set of physics problems. They were all so bright and magnetic in their own unique ways.

And they were stuck with Blake. Blake, who had lied to them from day one.

“As if being roommates wasn’t torture enough already,” Weiss grumbled, turning back to her homework.

Ruby leapt from her soapbox chair and snatched Weiss’ textbook right out from under her nose.

“Hey!” Weiss yelled.

“Quiet hours,” Blake reiterated.

Yang raised a finger in front of her lips, earning her a trademark Schnee glare. Blake stifled a laugh and glanced down to see that smug, sparkling smile that Yang put on whenever she was in a mischievous mood. Blake ducked behind her book, hoping her cheeks only felt warm because of the heavy blankets on her bed.

“A lot of help you two are,” Weiss hissed at them. “Ruby, give it back.”

“Nope.” Ruby slammed the book shut. Blake jumped at the sound. “As team leader, I hereby declare this an official bonding night!”

Weiss rolled her eyes, conceding that she wasn’t going to get any more work done.

Yang stared at Ruby in silence for a moment. Then she turned to Blake.

“What'd you get for number three?” She asked, dissolving Ruby’s hold on the room.

“Yaaaaaaaang!” Ruby bounced over and put her hands all over Yang’s paper.

“Ruby--” As soon as Yang looked up at her little sister’s face, her resolve crumbled. By this point, Blake knew that there was only one thing that could make Yang do something against her will, and that one thing was Ruby’s puppy eyes and pleading pout.

“...Fine.”

“Yes!” Ruby squeaked, fist pumping and hopping a foot into the air. “Blake?”

Blake sighed and closed her book. It was going to be a long night.

“Woooo!” Ruby shouted again.

“Quiet. Hours.” Weiss insisted.

Yang lifted herself off the ground to sit on Blake’s bunk. Blake shifted a little, suddenly unsure of how close people normally sat to one another. This seemed alright. Not too far, not too close. Not close enough?

Ruby flopped onto the floor, mimicking her sister’s pose from a moment before. Weiss floated down to sit next to Ruby, and Blake realized that she’d almost never seen Weiss in her sleep clothes before (they were predictably chic and probably made of fine silk). Weiss was typically hard at work past everyone else’s bedtime and back from the showers in the morning before anyone else woke up. Blake wondered whether this was simply a habit or a more conscious choice made to preserve a particular image. Perhaps it was both.

“Does everybody know how to play?” Yang asked.

“Obviously,” Weiss said.

“We have a list of house rules,” Ruby explained, puffing up self-importantly. “Rule one: any party neither asking nor answering a question may object to said question if they believe it crosses a line. Rule two: if you chicken out of a dare, you have to sleep outside--”

Yang cut in. “Let's just stick with rule one, Ruby.”

Ruby let out a resigned sigh.

“Anybody want to go first?” Yang asked, looking between her roommates. Blake and Weiss avoided eye contact like kids in the back of a classroom, but Ruby raised her hand enthusiastically.

Yang laughed, and Blake was sure it was one of the most wonderful sounds in the universe.

Ruby leaned in closer as her sister posed the question dramatically: “Alright. Truth...or dare?”

“Dare! No, truth. Wait...”

“Well, which is it?” Weiss asked petulantly.

Ruby tapped her chin thoughtfully. “I always pick dare, but tonight is not for seeing how many socks I can fit in my mouth. Truth.”

Blake hoped they didn't all have to pick truth. Or eat socks.

Yang lowered her voice. “Ruby. Do you think Jaune is cute?”

“Ew, gross!” Ruby recoiled.

“Shhhh!” Weiss reminded. "Although, I have to agree. Gross.”

Blake found herself joining in with their laughter.

“I’ll accept that answer,” Yang chuckled. “Pick who’s next.”

“Weiss,” Ruby said quickly, eliciting a predictable eyeroll from her partner. “Truth or dare?”

Weiss hesitated.

“We don’t have all night,” Yang teased.

“I’m thinking,” Weiss said. “Alright. Truth.”

Yang jumped in. “What’s the worst thing you’ve ever done?”

Weiss’ eyes went wide with terror, but before she could answer Ruby leapt to her defense.

“Hey, who's asking the questions, here?”

“Sorry, sis,” Yang laughed. She glanced up at Blake again, the same stupid smirk on her face. Why did she keep doing that? Was she going to ask Blake that same question? Did she already suspect something? Blake forced herself to stay calm and collected despite the stubbornly persistent thumping in her chest.

With a deadly serious look on her face, Ruby turned to Weiss. “Weiss Schnee,” she started.

“Don’t you dare ask me if I think Jaune is cute,” Weiss said quickly.

“Psshh. You think I’d waste my one chance to interrogate you?”

Weiss facepalmed. “Oh, no.”

“What’s your favorite glyph and why?” Ruby asked.

Caught off guard by the thoughtful question, Weiss stuttered. “Well, I--no fair, that’s two questions!”

“Overruled,” Yang said.

Blake cocked her head, intrigued. “Go on, Weiss,” she said gently.

Weiss shifted in her seat. “I suppose I’m best with ice dust--”

Ruby emitted a rather loud buzzer-like sound. “Not what you’re best with. Which one do you like most?”

Weiss huffed and glanced at Yang.

“Sustained,” Yang shrugged.

Sometimes, Blake worried that Weiss would pop a capillary from thinking too hard about such seemingly straightforward things.

After a moment, Weiss' answer came. “Manipulating gravity is fun, I guess. I’ve always wanted to see how it works in battle. Use it with someone else.” She glanced at Ruby, and Blake swore she glimpsed a blush on Weiss’ pale cheeks.

Ruby brightened. “Ahh! Can we try it? I could be all pew pew pew,” she said, indicating the many directions she might ricochet by zipping her finger around in the air.

Weiss barely kept herself from giggling at the oh-so-Ruby gesture. “Well, not right _now_ , obviously.”

“Tomorrow, then--I’m holding you to it,” Ruby said.

Weiss let a smile slip through. A second later, though, she turned away from Ruby with a vicious glint in her eye. “Alright, Yang. Since you were so rude during my turn, truth or dare?”

“Oh, dare. Always.”

Weiss crossed her arms. “Hang on. If you and Ruby both choose dare every time, what’s the point of the game?”

“We already tell each other pretty much everything.” Ruby chimed in. “I guess with all our made-up rules it’s pretty much just a different game...” Ruby trailed off as if this thought were occurring to her for the first time.

Yang mirrored Weiss’ rigid posture and crossed arms. “Bring it on, Ice Queen.”

“I dare you to...reach into your schoolbag and lick the first thing you touch.”

“Seriously?”

Weiss raised a proud eyebrow.

“No, like...that’s it?” Yang challenged. “I mean, I’ll do it, but that’s all you got?”

Weiss scoffed. “Fine. I dare you to tell Jaune that Ruby doesn’t think he’s cute.”

“Objection,” Ruby said, raising a finger. “That’s a little mean.”

“I suppose you’re right. His ego doesn’t exactly need to be knocked down a peg, anyway.”

As entertaining as it was watching Weiss capitulate to Ruby’s wishes, Blake was distracted by the blood rushing in her own ears. It didn’t help that Yang kept fidgeting, occasionally bumping their knees together or pulling the blanket by accident. Little shifts, just enough to remind Blake that they were sharing space.

At this particular moment, however, Yang reached across Blake’s lap to grab her schoolbag from its home at the end of their bunks. Without warning, Blake was overwhelmed with the smell of strawberry shampoo. She froze--what else could she do?

Apparently she’d checked out for a moment while absolutely _not_ imagining running her hand through those glorious golden locks. By the time she noticed what was going on in the game, Yang was holding an eraser and Ruby and Weiss were arguing over the stipulations ascribed to licking an obscure object. Weiss counted it as touching anything with one’s tongue, while Ruby insisted that there was a minimum time limit that must be observed.

“Whatever. It’s not like she wants to lick it. That’s the point of a dare, right?” Weiss said.

Yang narrowed her eyes, eraser still in hand. “Are you calling me a coward, Schnee?”

“No, I--ugh!”

Without a second thought--and, Blake assumed, without a first thought--Yang shoved the entire eraser into her mouth. She flung her arms out in triumph as Ruby rolled over cackling.

“Fine, you win! You win!” Weiss shouted.

Ruby, barely containing her laughter, shushed Weiss. “Quiet hours,” she whispered, once again breaking down into cackles and letting her head fall onto Weiss' shoulder.

“Considering our esteemed leader’s delirious state, I think it’s time for bed,” Weiss said.

“But Blake hasn’t gone yet,” Ruby protested, sitting up and brushing a tear from her eye.

“Last question. Yang, your turn to ask.”

Yang finally spit the eraser into her hand, provoking an aftershock of Weiss’ disgust. “Nuh-uh. If someone does your dare, you have to ask another question.”

“Your arbitrary rules make no sense, but I’m too tired to bother arguing,” Weiss said.

Yang flashed finger guns and tucked the eraser back into her bag. While Weiss searched for another question, Yang replaced her bag at the end of the bed. Blake was braced for it this time--or so she thought. Instead of sitting back where she'd been, Yang simply curled up with her head in Blake’s lap.

Blake pulled her hands to her chest, suddenly unsure of where to put them. She perked up when she heard Weiss call her name sharply.

“Blake. Truth or dare?”

“Uh...”

Yang rolled over so that she was looking right up at Blake, who didn’t dare glance down. Maybe if Blake pretended that she wasn’t absolutely mortified by this entire situation, she could muddle her way through an answer, but she couldn’t promise herself that she wouldn’t slip up and say something she’d rather not reveal.

Weiss rolled her eyes. “You’ve had all game to decide. Truth or dare?”

“Somebody’s cranky...” Ruby said, still coming down from her giggle fit.

Yang’s voice was enough to finally make Blake look at her. “Do dare,” Yang whispered. Her eyes flashed red, just for a blink.

Blake felt her whole face flush the same color. “Okay.”

“If you’re going to butt in, you might as well ask the question yourself,” Weiss said, crossing her arms again.

Finally, Yang sat up. Blake’s respite was short-lived, however, because moments later Yang faced her and leaned in close. Blake’s rational mind remembered that Yang took this game rather seriously and this was simply her question-asking posture. That observation did exactly nothing to counteract the furious blushing.

“I dare you...” Yang began, scrutinizing her. “I dare you not to blink.”

“I--what?” Blake stumbled.

“Staring contest,” Yang explained.

Ruby clapped excitedly. “Ooooh, a game inside a game!”

“Whatever,” Weiss said, standing. “I’m going to sleep.”

“Aww. Boost me up?” Ruby asked. With a faux-annoyed exhale, Weiss obliged.

Blake looked back at Yang, who was clearly set on seeing this dare through. She had already started, it seemed, and she wiggled her eyebrows when Blake turned back to her. Without another word, Blake settled into a staring contest more intense than her most recent battles. She barely broke out sweating anymore when Grimm appeared, but she was mildly worried about where her blood pressure was currently resting.

It wasn’t as though Blake hadn’t noticed Yang’s eyes before. They were difficult to ignore, amethyst or crimson, but right now Blake was consumingly aware of them. Focused, challenging, sharp as swords. Daring. All words that could aptly describe the girl wielding them. Blake felt as if she’d walked into an arena weaponless, armorless, completely vulnerable.

Her eyes started to water.

“Give up yet?” Yang said, voice quiet and intense.

Blake steeled herself. “No way.”

Yang grinned, wolfish. The movement spilled a few tears onto her cheeks.

Blake saw her opening. “Do you?”

“Not a chance.”

Yang’s bravado was short-lived, however, as she started squinting.

“You alright, Xiao Long?” Blake teased.

In her periphery, Blake saw Weiss roll over in her bunk. Her irritation was palpable. “Can you two resume your little contest after I’ve gotten at least six hours?”

“Sorry, Weiss,” Yang shook her head a little.

Weiss left them with a final annoyed huff and pulled her pillow around her ears. Ruby, on the other hand, was already snoring quietly.

“I could do this all night,” Yang taunted.

“Sure you can,” Blake retorted.

They continued staring at each other for what could have been hours, minutes, seconds, years. Blake couldn’t be sure. All of her anxieties over bonding with her teammates faded into background noise, quieting until her attention narrowed to nothing but the pair of purple eyes inches in front of her. She was so entranced by the strangeness of the situation, the fact that is was suddenly acceptable--even expected--for her to keep her gaze locked with Yang’s, that she almost didn’t register the twitch.

“Did you just blink?” Blake said. “Guess that’s game over, then. I win.”

“I didn’t blink. I winked,” Yang insisted.

“What?”

“The rules were ‘no blinking.’ You didn’t say anything about winking.”

“You can’t do that. You could just win by alternating winks.”

“Technically, yeah.” Yang’s eyes sparkled.

Blake refused to let victory slip between her fingers. “Fine. Winking aside, you’ve been blinking this whole conversation. And I have not.”

“I--hmmm.” It was nearly a growl, Yang’s admission that she’d been bested at her own game.

Blake sat back, thrilled to at last be the smug one.

“Good game,” Yang said, extending a handshake. Blake accepted, and she allowed her hand to linger just a little longer than she ordinarily would. She chalked it up to exhaustion and tried not to think about it.

“You, too,” Blake replied, finally withdrawing her hand.

Yang swung her legs over the side of Blake’s bunk, but she paused before climbing up to her own. She glanced back over her shoulder and spoke in the same quiet, intense voice.

“I’ll get you to blink.”

Was it a threat? A promise? Something else entirely?

“Goodnight, Blake.” And with that, Yang disappeared into her own bed.

“Night,” Blake managed a split-second too late.

Given that Blake felt like she was running a fever, blankets were absolutely out of the question. She pulled just her sheets up to her shoulders and flipped onto one side, then the other, desperately trying to settle on a comfortable position. The urge to go for a midnight run to somewhere far away rose in her chest, but she pushed it down. Finally, _finally,_ she was surrounded by people who wanted her around for the right reasons. They liked her, and she liked them. Ruby’s genuine love for her teammates and friends, Weiss’ heartfelt response to Ruby’s question--those things made it harder and harder for Blake to figure out why her familiar flight instinct was kicking in.

Then she remembered that adorable, infuriating little smile. The smell of strawberry shampoo. Amethyst eyes boring into her own.

The nearly unbearable tension hanging in the inches of space between them.

As Blake lay awake, she vowed to never play truth or dare again.


End file.
